Cages of War
by mayemerald9
Summary: Merida's people have been slaughtered by the Vikings. She has a prisoner. She found his dragon. Will she show mercy? Hiccup's people have been slaughtered by the Scots. He is a prisoner. She found his dragon. Will she show mercy? Rated for violence and mild cussing.
1. Imprisoned

**(A/N) Thanks for reading. AU where members of Merida's and Hiccup's family are dead. I am not patient enough to make Merida's thoughts in the accent, but all the out-loud stuff has it.**

* * *

The doors of the great hall slammed open. At least ten guards pounded inside, in a uniform march. Here's what surprised me, though; they were only guarding one person.  
"Wha's tha meanin' of this?" I shouted. "Ten guards fer one lad, now don't ye think tha's a bit much?" Lord Macintosh came and kneeled.  
"Tha boy is very skilled in combat, we feel it only necessary tha..."  
"Aye, jus' take 'im to the dungeons, I already know wha' happened." I dismissed Macintosh, and he went with the guards. Annoying git. "Maudie, please prepare dinner, I'm goin' out for a bit." Maudie, my servant, bowed and walked towards the kitchens.

* * *

I did what I always do when I am frustrated- and that's most of the time. I rode Angus, my giant black stallion. In war time alone, we covered at least the length of the entire kingdom twice over, but who could blame me. I was suddenly made the Queen of my people, after a tragic… accident. Accident my ass, everyone knows that it's the reason for this stupid bloody war.

Angus took me to a foggy hill, one that I had become quite familiar with in recent times. It was clear, nothing littering the ground but the ring of twenty-foot stones. The stones radiated a mystical aura, something almost nearly impossible to detect, but after having seen the worst happen here, I will never forget the feeling. I dismounted, preparing the food I brought with me. Even though this place was where all the madness had started, it gave me an odd sense of peace that even I couldn't explain.

A noise came from behind me, but I paid no heed. I had my bow with me, so whoever it may have been was of no threat to me. I heard it again, a solid _W__hump!_ sound, like a soft body landing. Hearing I once more, I grabbed my bow and snapped around, drawing back the arrow that was already prepared.  
I gasped.  
On top of one of the stones was a long black creature, probably eight meters, with fifteen meter wings that were unfolded threateningly. It's eyes, a golden yellow color, were narrowed into slits, and it's ears were folded back. It's scales gleamed in the light of the afternoon, the mist adding a shimmering effect to them, making it look as if the dragon were a mirage.  
I lowered my bow, having gone over the standard protocol with hostile dragons. Do not appear threatening. I kicked my bow far away, standing slowly. The dragon jumped from the stone, landing only a few meters away from me. It's teeth we're bared, and I heard a low growl coming from deep in its throat.  
"Easy, lad, easy..." I held out my palm and smiled softly. The dragon's face switched from hostile to wary, and it began to circle me. I could still hear the growl, and I tried not to let my true fear show on my face. It's tail twitched, and I noticed something odd. There was a red sheet of leathery paper where the dragon's tail fin should have been, and I noticed a dark saddle that blended in with its scales. This dragon had been trained.  
"Ye missin' someone, lad?" I asked it calmly. It's nostrils flared. I edged closer. It wouldn't kill me, it had been trained. Trained dragons don't kill people.  
"I migh' know where he is. He's a lad, I assume?" The dragon flicked its tail impatiently, but it's eyes widened and it nodded.  
"Skinny thing, like a toothpick, with brown hair an' green eyes tha' seem to glow?" The dragon dropped its guard completely, and bounded over to me like a puppy being offered a treat.  
"Yeh, I know where 'e is, but I canno' take ye there righ' now. Ye'd be killed." The dragon's gaze appeared to sadden, but he continued to stay near me. I held out my hand once more.  
This time, the dragon nuzzled his head into my hand, and I felt the warmth of the rough scales go deep into my soul. I closed my eyes and smiled. The warmth and kindness coming from this dragon… it was unbelievable.  
He shifted his body slightly, and I got a good view of his saddle. Sewn into the lining, as if it wasn't meant to be seen, was a word and an emblem. Toothless was written next to the image of a dragon curved in a circle. Berk. Of course.  
"Toothless? So tha' means I have Hiccup, great Dragon Conqueror, in my dungeon. This won' end well. No' well at all."

* * *

"Where is he! Please, do whatever you want to me, just don't hurt him!" Hiccup pleaded with the guards. Macintosh spoke up.  
"I don' know who this _'h__im'_ is, but he wasn' captured with ye, so ye migh' wanna shut yer gob before we find ou' where he is." He shut up after that.  
The door to the dungeon stairway creaked open.  
"Leave us, all of ye!" I shouted. "Tha' includes you, Macintosh." He scowled at me, but mumbled his departure and bowed as he left. One of the few perks of being queen.  
I went over to the bars of Hiccup's cell. He had collapsed on the floor, his hair in his eyes and his clothes in tatters. That was the worst I had yet seen him. He glanced up at me, but returned his gaze to the floor quickly.  
"Merida," was all he said. He recognized me. Surprising.  
"Listen to me, Viking. I've found yer dragon, he's safe. For now. If ye don' answer all o' my questions, then I'll sell 'im out to the soldiers. Wouldn' want tha', now would we?" He nodded, just slightly.  
I looked over my shoulders. No one but Hiccup. I pulled a metal canteen and some bread from a pouch on my waist.  
"'Ere, have some o' this. I don' support this war, but if it means protectin' my kingdom, then so be it." I tossed them down to him, who accepted them gratefully.  
"Why do you fight?" he asked me after handing the canteen back. I paused.  
"For me' mother, and father, and Hamish. They were the first to die by the Vikings, and I will have me' revenge on the man who killed 'em. But slaughtering innocents... I jus' think tha's wrong. Wha' about ye?"  
"My father," he replied without hesitating. "He was shot through the heart by one of your bows." I grimaced. He glanced back up at me, catching my cringe. "Don't misunderstand me, Merida, it was your bow, but you weren't the one to shoot it, I know that much." I slowly released a breath that I hadn't known I was holding.  
"I'll come back tomorrow for answers, Viking. Get some rest until then, ye'll need it," I told him, my cloak billowing as I left the room. Little did I know, Hiccup was smirking at me from behind the bars.

* * *

**(A/N) Read and Review please! I highly doubt I'll be able to update regularly, but I can try. If the accent isn't consistent, please comment on what I mess up on. I have edited most spelling and grammar! Joy! I repeat: READ AND REVIEW!**

**Also: Toothless's measurements were rounded off of this image:**

captaincuttlefish **. **deviantart **.** com/art/Night-Fury-Measurments-212817423


	2. Shouting and Axes

"Back already, Princess?" He spat the last word like it was an insult.  
"Princess no more, Viking, I've been Queen since the day your people killed my family."  
"Whatever. When am I going to serve my death sentence, I want to know how long I'll have to be in this hellhole before I die?" He turned to the wall. I shook my head.  
"Ye won't be. I've ordered for them ta leave ye alone."  
He shrugged.  
"Won't make a difference, I'm gonna die anyway. And in a place like this, of all things."  
"Shut up, Viking, I'm suppose' ta be interrogatin' ye." The ghost of a scowl crossed his features, but then he returned to his emotionless stare.  
"Why were ye in Scotland, Viking? Plannin' to overthrow me, learnin' mah weaknesses?" He shook his head and didn't say anything. "We'll boy?! Ye got an answer?!"  
"I was rescuing captured children. Viking children," he snapped. My eyes narrowed.  
"Those children are none oh your concern!"  
"Yes they are! They are from my village and they were captured on my turf, so that makes them my concern!"  
"The children were goin' ta be given good homes, and raised like proper Scots!"  
"But they wouldn't have been accepted! They would have always been the Viking savages, and they would be outcasts, no matter what they did to prove themselves, no matter what challenge they overcame for the good of their vil- country!" I couldn't argue. They would have been scorned and punished for their bloodline, that was true, and I felt guilty now that I thought about it.  
"We'll a' least we don' kill them!" I screamed. Nothing could stop my oncoming fury. "A' least we don' go around killin' innocent families, no' if they don' fight back! A' least we… a' least we don' use dragons to terrorize our neighbors, and slaughter their natives, and steal their women, and kill their young!" It was his turn to be speechless, and I resisted the urge to smirk. He beat me to it though.  
"Your generals are liars. We release all captives at the nearest village that we aren't going to raid. And we only raid villages because the Scots have depleted all our resources." I mentally screamed.  
"I would retort, but I believe ye. Strange, righ'?" He laughed, or tried to anyway, but it ended in a sickening cough. I sighed and handed him my canteen again, and he drank it dry. "Wha's yer dragon eat, lad?" He glanced nervously at me.  
"Fish… why?" I rolled my eyes.  
"So I can feed 'im, o course." Idiot.  
"We'll would you do me a favor and feed me too? I'd even eat half-eaten regurgitated fish right now." He shuddered, and I threw him some fruit and bread.  
"I'm goin' ta go feed yer dragon." I start out the door. "He's a cute lil devil," I murmur under my breath. Hiccup puts on an unnoticeable smile, and I leave to go hunt.

* * *

Little do I know, as soon as the door closes behind me, a stone pops off of the wall, and two little red headed boys poke their heads out. Hiccup doesn't notice them at first, not until they came right up to the bars of the cell and slipped between them. Hiccup's eyes widened.  
"Um… hi?" The boys didn't say anything, they just scooted closer.  
"What are you doing..?" Hubert, the new leader ever since Hamish died, climbed on top of Harris's shoulders. He cocked his head and put his fingers on his chin, thoughtfully. Hubert had the strange ability to see the good in anyone. He had never seen a Viking up close before, and he expected to find no good at all, but when he looked into Hiccup's wide eyes, he saw nothing BUT good.  
He looked at Harris, and they nodded, slipping back through the bars and into the tunnel.  
Hiccup tensed up, waiting for the return of a shouting guard or something, because he was fairly certain that the boys thought he did something wrong.  
The boys came back through the tunnel, Harris coming first with a huge sack, and Hubert next with an axe that had to be at least twice as tall as the two of them. They slipped through the bars again, Hubert lifting the heavy axe above his head. He grimaced with the weight of it, and stumbled around.  
"Uh, uh, w-w-what are you doing?" Hiccup stammered as the axe slowly made its way towards him. He scooted as far into the corner as he could and raised his hands above his face. "Oh, gods, gods oh gods!" he mumbled to himself. "Thor help me, I'm going to die in here!" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hubert raise the axe again, and he cringed, waiting for the end.  
_Thunk!_  
The axe landed next to him, cutting through the bag. Harris and Hubert smiled as they watched a large amount of food pour out of the bag, and they turned back towards Hiccup. So what, they liked the guy, scaring people with sharp objects is always fun! Hiccup blinked, dumbstruck.  
"I won't question why, but thank you, so, so much," he tells them, grabbing a chicken leg out of the pile. The two boys grabbed what looked like little cakes and sat on either side of him, grinning. Devouring the chicken leg and discarding the bones, Hiccup held out his hand to the boys.  
"Hiccup." The boys looked at each other.  
"Hubert," Hubert said, grasping his hand.  
"Harris." He did the same. Hiccup smiled. He knew the two boys wouldn't say anything else.

* * *

**(A/N) Read and review! And seriously, tell me how I'm doing with the accent! **


	3. Light Conversation and Drunken Idiocy

I growled, exasperated. The fish had been a pain to catch, but the results were fulfilling. Toothless had joyfully bounded over to me when I came, and we had roughhoused until I remembered why I was there in the first place.

"'Ere's some fish, lad," I called to him, revealing the basket of fish that was as tall as me. He dug in, elated, and I scratched him behind the ears. Cute devil. "I'm goin' ta have ta go back, now, so don' follow" He wouldn't anyway, the fish would distract him for too long.

* * *

I tried not to giggle when I came back to the dungeon. In the corner of the cell sat Hiccup, lightly snoring, with my brothers. One of them was sprawled out in his lap with a chicken bone in his mouth, and the other was sitting on top of his head protectively. Or at least, it would have been protectively if he weren't fast asleep, his mouth wide open, snoring and with cake cream smeared all over his face.

I took my canteen and began dragging it on the bars of the cell, the noise echoing throughout the dungeon.

_CLANG!_

"Wha?!" Hiccup jumped up immediately.

_CLANG!_

My brothers stirred, rolling over.

"Goway..." they mumbled.

_CLANG!_

"OK! We're up already!" Hiccup shouted over the noise, startling Hubert enough to fall off of his head. I grinned.

"Yer dragon's been fed, Hiccup, and I see ye have too." He blinked, and the twins shuffled their feet. "Get out of here, ye rascals." The boys picked up their bag and their axe and dragged it through the little hole in the wall. I turned back to Hiccup with a deadpan face, and he mumbled something.

"Wha' was tha', lad?"

"You called me by my name..." he whispered. I raised an eyebrow.

"Listen 'ere, Viking; ye haev no' earned my trust, an' ye probably never will, but if ye've earned my brothers', then I at least owe ye some politeness." He nodded.

"I apologize for what I said yesterday. I was just hungry and angry, I'm not usually like that."

"Accepted. I'm no' usually like tha' either, but mah anger go' the better of me." He nodded again.

"How's Toothless?" I snorted.

"Toothless is a pig. E's stuffin' 'is face with fish right now, and he does no' seem to be injured."

"That's good."

* * *

"Why are ye involved in tha war? From wha' ye told me, it sounds like ye only have a vendetta against one person."

"Peer pressure. The other Viking tribes threatened to raid our island if we didn't use our dragons to fight in the war."

"Oh..."

"What about you?"

"Defense. The Vikings keep tryin' to conquer our land, and if I did no' fight back, I would be seen as a coward. An' also my revenge..."

"Understandable." I was watching him drink again. It had been a few days since the boys brought him food, so I was back to giving him small portions. The boys had come to visit almost every day (when I wasn't there, or course) but they had to wait to plunder the kitchens again so that Maudie wouldn't get suspicious. They had really taken a liking to him.

"Be honest with me. Does yer island take a major part in tha raids?"

"No. I only have them as little as possible, just two or three warriors in each battle. Enough to satisfy the other tribes, but not make the islanders feel like mass-murderers."

"Understandable," I replied, mocking him. I smirked, and he handed the canteen back.

"Hi, mah name is Queen Merida, an' I like to shoot mah arrows while ridin' off into the sunset on mah giant horse," he said, taking on a high pitched voice and absolutely _slaughtering _my accent. I narrowed my eyes.

"How did ye..."

"It's pretty common knowledge, actually. Ever since your coronation..."

"I will run ye through righ' here if ye finish tha' sentence." He held up his hands defensively.

"Ok, I was just..." I drew my sword and he shut right up.

* * *

"HOW DARE YOU?!" Everyone in the great hall jumped at least three feet in the air.

"Yer Majesty, wha' are..."

"DON' GIVE ME THA' CRAP! Where's Macintosh?!"

"Righ' here, Yer Highness." I stormed over to him, the air around me filled with pure rage. He gulped and broke into a nervous sweat.

"How dare ye, how DARE ye interrogate the prisoner behind mah back?! And drug 'im, no less! Wha' were ye thinking!" He scowled at me, drawing up to his full height. It would have been intimidating two years ago, when I was actually shorter than him, but now he just looked ridiculous.

"I was THINKING tha' I would get some USEFUL information out o' him, but APPARENTLY I was WRONG!" His eyes widened, realizing what he had just done. The room was dead quiet.

"I want ye out of here Macintosh. Now. Ye were never mah best general, ye never will be. Ye are lucky tha' I don' have ye executed for treason. Now leave." He scowled, but grabbed his sword and left the castle with an air of dignity. Stuck up git.

Everyone let out a breath, a relieved sigh, but immediately gasped when I turned on them.

"Who was conspirin' with 'im? Who else knew?!" No one spoke.

"If any of ye knew and do no' tell me RIGH' NOW, I will no' give ye the same liberties as Macintosh." One soldier stood up, bowed, and left the palace, leaving his sword on the table, but no one else moved. I sighed.

"MacGuffin, yer the new Chief General. Flynnagin will take yer old rank." I left the room, heading towards the dungeons, and the chattering of gossip began behind me.

* * *

Hiccup was singing in Nordic when I arrived. His words were slurring, and he was singing many of them in some other unknown language, and I knew the affects of the drug were going to last for quite a while. Great...

"Oh, hiiii Merida!" I slapped myself. This would not end well. "Its nishe to she you again!" I resisted the urge to bang my head against the wall and walked over to his cell. I handed him my canteen, but he flinched back.

"Doesh that have another shweet tasting drink? That tasted weeeeeeeird..." This time I did bang my head against the wall.

"This does no' have anythin' in it." That was a lie. It had a herb that would quell the effects of the drug. I hoped. "Jus' drink it Hiccup!" He blinked slowly, as If learning how, and took the canteen. He took a swig.

"Sho what'sh up with you?"

"The sky." Another swig.

"Nuh-uh."

"Oh really?" Another swig.

"Really. The ceiling is up right now." Another swig. This had better work. "If you want to get specific, there's the stones that the ceiling is made of."

"Well wha's above tha'?" Another swig. It should have been about empty by then.

"The sk... Oh..." I laughed, and he handed the canteen back. "My head is a lot clearer now." I nodded. "You are a _wee devil, _slipping something in there." He said wee devil in an accent. Oy. Is he still confused, or does he just have a death wish?

"Yes, bu' how else was I supposed to get ye to drink it?"

"Tell me what it did?" I took a deadpan face.

"Oh _ha, ha, h_-" He kissed me through the bars. DEFINITELY had a death wish. He scooted back into the corner of the cell and starting singing the Nordic song again, but this time it sounded much better. I was speechless. I tried to listen to the words of the song, having learned some Nordic, to take my mind off of what had just happened. It didn't help.

"_*The stars pale in her beauteous light...*_" I stormed out of the dungeon and ran straight to Angus.

He was a smart horse, already waiting for me. I jumped on him, and he ran straight to the stones. He kissed me! I'm gonna kill him...

Toothless came out from behind the stones, cocking his head to the side as if to say _Did you bring me more fish? _

"Ye had better hope that Hiccup was still drunk, Toothless, or else I'll have 'im run through." Toothless made a noise that sounded a lot like laughter. He nuzzled the top of my head, and I absently scratched him, thinking about nothing at all.

* * *

**(A/N) I never liked Macintosh. Or his son. Read and Review!**


	4. Revenge and Escape

Hiccup was smiling to himself, trying to decide whether he was still drunk or not._ Gods, I hope so, or else Merida's going to kill me._  
He heard shuffling, and figured that it was just the twins. He was right.  
"Hey." They slipped between the bars.  
"That have any food in it?" They dragged a large cloth bag behind them. Harris (Hiccup thought it was Harris anyway) opened the bag and began to drop items onto the floor. It obviously wasn't food, but he couldn't tell what it was.  
"What's that?" Hubert turned and glared at him. "What? What did I do?" Hubert picked up one of the things he had thrown to the ground, and ran over to Hiccup with it. "Seriously, what are you doing?"  
Harris began to tie Hiccup's ankles together with some rope, and ran to the the side of the room with the rest of it. Hubert took something from the floor and went over to Hiccup with it, while Harris strung the rope over a ceiling beam. Hubert climbed up Hiccup until he was standing on his head, and he dropped whatever he was holding on top of it.  
Something sticky dropped down Hiccup's head and face, and Hiccup gagged.  
"Is this old porridge? Why would you DO that?!" Hubert then ran over to Harris, and they pulled the rope as hard as they could, effectively stringing Hiccup upside down.  
"What did I do?!" The twins tied the end of the rope to another ceiling beam, and walked back over to him. Harris took another something from the bag while Hubert scowled at him again. "Could I at least know why you're hanging me upside down?"  
Hubert's face twitched.  
"Oh. You aren't really mad at me, you just have an excuse to hang my upside down and are taking full advantage of it. Of course." Hubert's eyes widened, and Harris returned. Harris took... Gods was that a bear head?! and opened the jaws, laying it underneath me. "You people are homicidal." The boys grinned and said cheerfully,  
"Kiss our sister, you get the worst." Then they disappeared, bumping into Hiccup as they ran, making him spin. Hiccup sighed.  
_It'll be a wonder if I get any sleep tonight._

* * *

I woke up to giggling. That was a sound I never thought I'd hear again.  
"Oy, wha's goin' on?"  
I opened my door to find my brothers running past, beating each other with wooden swords. "Wha' did ye do now?" They just grinned at me, and ran away. I followed them, but they turned a corner and ducked into one of their many secret passages. I sighed.  
"One o' these days, I am goin' to plug those passages, and tha one in tha dungeon will be tha firs... Oh..." I took off towards the dungeon, trampling who knows how many people on my way there.  
Bursting through the doors, I laughed at what my brothers had done.  
"Your brothers are evil," Hiccup said as he spun.  
"Are ye jus' tha' light, or are mah brothers jus' tha' strong?" He grunted, and tried to swing himself upward, but ended up flinching in pain.  
"Great, I've been hanging upside down for so long that my legs have fallen asleep." I chuckled and took out my sword, slicing the rope in one swift movement.  
"Oof!" He landed in the mouth of a stuffed bear, and I laughed at his face. He was pressing his lips together and biting them, and his eyes looked like if they could have, they would have screamed. He let out a breath before squeaking, "Yes, thank you SOO much for that! Now I am going to have bite marks on my... LEGS..."  
"Aw, quit yer whinin', at least I'm leavin' ye with somethin' to mess with." He tried to stand up, but his legs collapsed and he landed face first on the bars of the cell. "Well, I'm goin' to go govern mah people now, before I die of laughter. Bye!" I left with him once again landing on the bars. Once I was outside the dungeon, I found my brothers grinning proudly at me, and I smiled back. "Yer evil, ye know that?"

* * *

Hiccup started piling all of the stuff the twins had left in one corner of the room. The rope, now slashed, the bear head, now toothless, the teeth, the bag, and the... _What was that?_  
Hiccup picked up a small pouch, no bigger than his hand. It was made of simple black fur, with the only ornament being a silver button with what he assumed was the DunBroch crest. He sat down and opened it up. The contents- several long, thin silver rods- fell to the floor. They looked almost like screwdrivers, but thy ended in points. Hiccup shuddered.  
_Glad I didn't land on those..._  
He put his hand inside the pouch and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.  
_To Hiccup:_  
_I you don't know how to pick a lock, you might want to learn fast!_  
_Hubert and Harris_  
Hiccup's eyes widened._ A lock picking kit? Those kids were crazy! What would happen if Merida found out..._  
Hiccup replaced the picks in the pouch, and placed the pouch in his pocket. If he tried to escape now, the guards would be on him in seconds.  
_Those kids are crazy- and amazing- but still, crazy!_

* * *

The castle was silent when Hiccup woke up. Nothing but birds chirping. That couldn't be good. If it was quiet enough for Hiccup to hear birds through the stone walls, then the castle must have been empty.  
Hiccup pulled the lock picks from his pocket. _Coincidence... Has to be a coincidence that the day after I get a way to escape, everyone disappears._  
It only took a minute for the lock to click, and for Hiccup to be running up the steps into darkness.  
The stone hallways of the castle weren't lit, so Hiccup could only see a few feet in front of him. He had no idea where he was going, just turning corners and climbing stairs at random, until he reached a balcony overlooking the hall through which he was dragged when he was first captured.  
The great hall was lit, and the few people that were left in the castle were huddled in fear. From two floors above them Hiccup could see the people trembling.  
"A'right, everybody, calm down!"_ Merida. Of course._**(A/N) It is still Merida telling the story.** I stood in front of the large throne, my brothers sitting in two smaller ones beside me. "The Vikings will no' strike tonight, bu' we need to be prepared!" _Vikings? Attack? What was she talking about?_ "Wha' is the plan, again, now, I know ye all remember it!"  
"Get the weapons an' run!" the small crowd chorused.  
"An' then?"  
"If one comes after us, aim te kill! Then keep runnin'!"  
"Good job! Ye can all ge' back te work now, but be prepared!" The crowd dispersed, and I collapsed onto my throne.  
"Boys, ye be good now, I'm goin' ta bed." Hiccup heard me say. _That was good.. One less person to worry about._  
He watched me trudge up the stairs and disappear into my room before running to the nearest staircase, practically falling downward.  
At the bottom of the stairs, he found the twins looking up at him with deadpan looks on their faces.  
"Hi..?"  
The boys grabbed his sleeves and starting pulling him up some more stairs- _Jeeze, how many are there?_- towards where I had disappeared.  
"Oh, gods, please no, not Merida, anyone but her!" Hubert have a confused look to Hiccup before pulling him into the room right next door.  
The room was decorated with tartans and tapestries hanging on the walls, with bears and beards and portraits alike littering every stone.  
There were three four-poster beds with red sheets all in a row, the two in the sides now occupied by the twins. They gestured towards the bed in the middle, their eyes looking almost pleadingly towards Hiccup.  
"Are... Are you serious?" Hiccup asked quietly. He was confused out of his mind. The boys nodded, and he started foreword, collapsing on the bed.  
_It's so soft... How could I have ever survived the wooden beds of Berk?_  
He looked to the side to see Hubert smiling, and he fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

_The world roared as the tide of fur-clad Vikings stormed the hill, with the Ring of Stones. They took their swords and their dragons and killed everything in sight. My parents fought viciously, my mum with her bow and my dad with his sword, and even little Hamish using his hammer... Fog rose up around them, enveloping everything. I began to cough. My parents were challenged by a big burly Viking, wearing shining armor with a beard that went down to his waist. This Viking seemed to be twice the size of Mor' Du, his eyes as black as the bear's fur... I coughed harder, and the fog thickened._  
_"Mum! Da! Look out!" They didn't hear me. The Viking advanced, sword gleaming. The fog turned black, and I doubled over coughing before I heard a piercing scream..._  
_"Mum... NOO!" Tears welled in my eyes, not just from the pain but from the scratching of the fog... Black fog... I took a deep breath through my nose before having another coughing fit._  
_"This is' nae fog, it's smoke!"_  
I woke up. Flames were everywhere, eating everything I had ever held of value. I coughed, jumping out of the bed to stamp out the flames.  
The smoke scratched at my eyes, making them burn and water, and I could barely see where I was stomping. I gave up, and headed for the door.  
The castle was in chaos, the remaining people fending against Vikings... And warriors?! Scottish men in blue war paint were fighting at the sides of Vikings, and they were swiftly overtaking the castle.  
I ran down the stairs, towards the door and to Maudie, who was distributing swords to everyone.  
"Maudie!" She threw me a sword, and I immediately used it to slash the arm of a warrior.  
"Traitors! Yer all goin' ta pay!" I shouted at him. I knocked him back and ran into the yard. No one but running Noblemen were there, Noblemen and...  
Young Macintosh.  
"I should have known!" I shout at the teen. "Ye could no' take anythin' from yer Queen, so ye take everythin'!" He scowled at me, threw his hair to one side of his arrogant face, an charged me with his sword. We fought vigorously, with me parrying every blow. He was disorganized. He fought with his rage, not his mind, while I fought with my skill.  
He wasn't a complete buffoon though. He feinted, aiming for my left, but at the last second he threw his sword into his other hand and pulled out a dagger, slashing my side before I could blink. The pain was blinding, but my rage now equaled his. He stood no chance.  
I took my sword and I jabbed at him, taking the offensive, and struck his shoulder. He cried out, almost shrieking, and threw his sword to his other hand, when I slashed his forearm open. The blood gushed out, spattering everywhere, and he ran, crying, towards the forest.  
No one was there to help me, so I stood alone keeping pressure on my wound. Then I saw an eerie blue light coming from the forest, a bright flash. A wisp? No... There it was again, followed by a roar. Toothless! I dropped my sword and ran towards the flashing, holding my side, and wincing in pain. I reached the edge of the forest when something grabbed me, dragging me through the trees.  
"Aagh! Let go of me ye monster! Let me g-" a hand covered my mouth. I glared up at my captor. The shadows were too thick, but I did see a shining green. I bit their hand, hard enough to draw blood, and they finally let go.  
"Jeeze Merida, do you want to get up both killed?!" Hiccup.  
"Well ye should warn me before ye kidnap me!"  
"Shut up! We're almost there."  
"Where are mah brothers?"  
"Waiting with Toothless. He seems to like kids."  
"Hrmph." There was Toothless, standing in a small clearing, supporting the twins on his wings. Show off.  
"Get on."  
"Why should I?"  
"For obvious reasons that may or may not include the lives of me, you, and your brothers." I hrmphed again, climbing onto the dragon.  
"Front or back?" Hiccup asked me.  
"Back... What about mah brothers?"  
"Toothless will carry them in a sac tied around his stomach. They agreed to it, and I don't think even Toothless could stop them."  
"Ye got tha' right!" one of them cried from the sac. I rolled my eyes. Hiccup climbed on in front of me, latching his mechanical foot into the stirrup.  
"You might want to hold on..." he said awkwardly. I paled, but wrapped my arms around his middle. No need to be falling off of a dragon, even if it meant holding on to a guy...  
I could have sworn that he blushed, but before I could be sure, Toothless was spreading his wings.  
He took off like an arrow, and I am sorry to admit that the thrill of it actually scared me at first. But then I got used to the wind in my face, and I had to resist the urge to scream excitedly. I grinned, and Hiccup turned his head back to look at me.  
"Wha? Why are ye lookin' at me like tha'?"  
"Nothing..."  
"Wha' is it? I can tell yer lyin."  
"It's nothing Merida."  
"Oh really now?" Toothless lurched suddenly, and I leaned in towards Hiccup, tightening my grip around his middle. He blushed, this time I was certain, and I did too. I shivered, loosening my grip.  
"Where are we goin'?" He paused before answering.  
"Berk."  
"Are ye crazy?! They'll all have me killed!"  
"No, they won't. Berk is like a safe haven from the war, a place for refugees. As long as you are under my protection, no one will ask questions, and they'll leave you alone." I looked at the side of his face. He seemed to be in a whole other world.  
"It's been a long time since ye've been home, hasn't it?"  
"Yeah... You could say that..." I shivered again, and pressed my forehead against his shoulder. Hiccup leaned to the side, reaching for the saddlebags. He pulled some fur out of one of them, and turned to wrap it around me. I sighed, content, and continued to lean on him.  
"Why're ye helpin' me?" He never answered. Before drifting off to sleep, I heard him begin to sing the Nordic song again, and felt his hand wrap around mine.

* * *

**Fluffiness! I can do fluffiness. Battle scenes... Not so much...**

**Read and review!**


	5. Healing

**(A/N) Merida is asleep in all of this, even though she is narrating.**

* * *

Hiccup blushed as he felt my weight against him. My hands slipped from his waist, and hung loosely at his sides, and the blanket began to slip from my shoulders. He turned to readjust it, and noticed for the first time the large wet stain on my side.  
"Toothless, we need to land NOW!"  
Toothless dived, and Hiccup adjusted the tail fin in time for the landing to be safe.  
We landed in a clearing in the middle of a forest, near a small stream. Hiccup carried me bridal-style off of Toothless, hoisting the saddlebags on his shoulder, and gently laid me down in the grass.  
The twins poked their heads out from behind the dragon.  
"Wha's wrong? Are we there?"  
"Merida is injured, and I need your help." They nodded. Hiccup handed them some shirts from the saddle bag, and kept a set of clothes beside him. "Tear these into strips to use as bandages, and when you're done with that, get some firewood." They nodded, and sat down to start tearing at the cloth.  
Hiccup turned back to me, and hesitated for just a moment before rolling me over and unlacing the ties of my dress.  
_Nothing wrong with this situation, nothing at all. Just saving the life of an ally, nothin... Snap out of it Hiccup!_  
I was now in nothing but my underclothes, and the twins had finished with the cloth. They ran off to get some firewood.  
Hiccup picked up a clean looking cloth and pressed it against the wound.  
_Keep pressure on the wound, Hiccup, you have to stop the bleeding..._  
The bleeding persisted. "Dammit, Merida, even your blood is stubborn!" Hiccup muttered under his breath.  
The boys returned with as much wood as they could carry, which was a surprisingly large amount for their size.  
"Great job guys, put it over there. Toothless!" Once the wood was on the ground, Toothless lit it with a blue blast of flame. "Thanks bud. Could you three go get some fish from the stream?" They all went to the stream, and he refocused on the wound. The blood flow was slowing now, and Hiccup sighed with relief. Once the flow stopped completely, Hiccup turned to find the boys (including Toothless) waiting patiently, wide-eyed and anxious.  
"Pass me the cloth." He took the strips and began to wrap one of them around my stomach, making sure to cover the stained cloth he had used before. He tied the ends together and did the same with two more strips in case the wound reopened.  
He straightened, and wiped the sweat from his brow.  
"She'll be fine, just sore. She won't be walking until I get her to the village healer on Berk." The boys (once again including Toothless) grinned, an the twins hugged Hiccup tightly.  
"You're welcome... Do me a favor and put her in those clothes for me? I'm going to go cook the fish."  
_She will kill me when she wakes up._

* * *

"Mmmmmmm" I mumbled. Something smelled GOOD. I tried to prop myself up on my elbows, only to be tackled by my brothers. "Yea, I'm awake, why're ye actin' so surprised?"  
"They're happy that you're alive." Hiccup sat by the fire, skinning the latest batch of fish.  
"Wha' do ye mean?"  
"You could have told me that you were injured."  
"I was a bit preoccupied."  
"You were dying!" The boys had disappeared. They knew that they didn't want to get caught in the flames if the oncoming argument.  
"I was... Wait a minute!" I looked down to see myself in a too-large set of Hiccup's clothing. "Ye took off mah clothes!"  
From the bushes, Harris passed Hubert two gold pieces.  
"To bandage the wound!"  
"Ye took off mah clothes!"  
"To save your life!"  
"YE TOOK OFF MAH CLOTHES!" Hiccup put his hand to his forehead.  
"Has anyone ever won an argument against you?" I glared at him, and once again, Hubert received two gold pieces.  
"Wha's tha' smell?"  
"Fish." I tried to stand up to get some, but Hiccup forced me down again. "Don't plan on walking until you've healed." I glowered at him. "Once we get to Berk, Gothi will take care of you quickly. She's a genius that only Gobber can understand." I stared at him blankly. "I'll explain when we get there..." He whispers, turning to the fish. "Here." I take the steaming fish.  
"This... This is really good, Hiccup." I saw between bites.  
"Thanks." My brothers walked back into the clearing, each taking a fish and running over to Toothless. "Do you know any Nordic?"  
"Yea, I was forced to learn it when tha war started."  
"Well that's good. No language issues." There was a pause.  
"Yer really excited about goin' ta Berk, aren't ye?"  
"You have no idea." I smiled at Hiccup as I ate, and Toothless cocked his head to the side as he watched Harris give Hubert more gold.

* * *

**Never bet against Hubert. Ever.**


	6. Toothless Knows All

**So I've actually done research and I am attempting to improve her accent.  
Just random accent facts: Take away the G at the end of words. Replace the word 'not' with 'nee' or 'nae'. There are no contractions. Replace the 'ou' sound with 'oo'. Example:**

_**I didnee take the keys to yer hoose this mornin'!**_

**The best way to freak out your friends is to randomly switch to a Scottish accent and pretend that nothing happened.**

* * *

I sat in the middle of a little cove, surrounded on all sides by stone walls. The pond in the middle was luminous in the moonlight, every ripple creating the illusion of starlight in the air.

It had been a week since Hiccup and I had arrived on Berk. He had returned to his normal duties, being the chief after all, and I had disappeared into the forest. I hunted, and the village was grateful for the help, but I felt out of place.  
To my dismay, my brothers almost immediately discovered the island troublemakers, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and ever since, something exploded almost hourly.  
I had begun carving a bow from a kind of tree I had need even heard about, and was making great progress tonight.  
I was taking all of the little bumps and imperfections from the wood, with every swipe of my knife, pretending I was destroying my problems.  
Scrape.  
My parents were alive.  
Scrape.  
My home was not invaded.  
Scrape.  
There was no war.  
Scrape.  
Hiccup was... If I finish this thought I will shoot myself right now. The feelings I kept getting were confusing me, wrenching me in every direction.  
I took deep breaths, trying to control myself, and got back to working on the bow.  
The shaft was smooth now, and I took a long string from my pack and began wrapping it around the ends. I became so engrossed in my work, I didn't realize when I began to sing a song from my childhood.  
"High an' mighty as tha sky,  
As handsome as tha sun is bright,  
He took mah heart at first sight,  
I'll love 'im till the day I die,  
Till the day I die."  
The string was set, and I took my whittling knife out to begin customizing the bow, making it my own. I made swirling patterns in the dark wood, once again expressing my feelings with each stroke.  
By the time I finished, the sun had risen, and I was unknowingly being observed.  
"You have a nice voice," Heather walked up behind me, a friendly smile playing on her lips. I jumped, and readied the bow on instinct, even though there was no arrow to fire.  
"Oh, Heather... Thank ye..." She sat down next to me, twirling some of her black hair around her finger.  
"Why do you always come here?" I blink.  
"Why do ye follow me?"  
"I follow you for top secret reasons that I won't ever reveal. In other words, Hiccup asked me to." I smiled.  
"Of course he did. I come here because… it's just so peaceful here, an' I wish I had tha' kind of peace everywhere in mah life."  
"Me too. The war is a terrible thing, and now… now I need to shut up."  
"Ye go' tha' righ'!" We both laughed. "Could ye do me a favor, Heather?"  
"Sure, whatever you need."  
"Could ye get Hiccup to come here tonight? I want to try somethin'." Heather raised her eyebrow and smirked. "Nothin' like tha' Heather! Ye twisted little devil! I want to scare him a bit for sendin' spies after me! No offense."  
"None taken. And ok, it's a deal."

* * *

I was hiding in a crevice in the rocks, with my bow and the few arrows I'd had the time to make. I waited patiently for Hiccup, my plan playing out in my head.  
Knock out Toothless.  
Confuse Hiccup.  
Scare him as much as possible.  
I grinned. This was was going to be fun.  
I heard a roar, and saw a shadow streak across the grass in front of me. They had arrived. Glancing upward, I saw something that almost made my heart stop.  
There was Toothless... And there was Hiccup, FLYING beside him! I was so stunned, I almost ran out of my hiding place to shout at him.  
They landed, Hiccup running foreword a few steps to regain his footing. This is where my plan began.  
I threw a dead fish foreword, just outside of my little crevice. Toothless noticed almost immediately, and bounded over to it. When his head was down, I reached under his jaw and scratched at a certain muscle, which made him collapse. Thank you Hiccup.  
Hiccup had removed his helmet, a strange thing that had nothing eyeholes and little spines going down the back of it.  
I readied my first arrow, taking aim at the helmet, which Hiccup was propping under his arm.  
I let it loose, and it hit its mark perfectly. It struck the helmet right through one of the eyeholes and an knocked it out of Hiccup's arms, lodging it into the trunk of a tree.  
He jumped back, and his metal foot caught on a root, making him fall backwards. I snickered, and ready my next arrow.  
Letting it loose, it landed in the middle of the loop in Hiccup's foot.  
"MERIDA!" I giggled. He sounded like he was trying not to wet himself. After regaining my composure, I walked out, my final arrow drawn and aimed right at Hiccup.  
"Well Viking." He shuffled backwards, and I followed, until he was backed into the tree his helmet was lodged in.  
"Gods, I thought we were over this by now," he said, banging the back of his head on the tree.  
"No' quite." I looked over him. He wore new armor, with a black breast plate, a brown quilted undershirt, brown pants that covered every inch of his legs, a black boot and black shoulder plate with a red crest on it (I figured it was his personal crest, because I only ever saw it on him and on Toothless's tail fin) and arm guards, one of which had a knife strapped to it. Hmm. Interesting. "Ah'm tryin' to decide if yer as smart as ye think ye are, or if yer actually smarter." He raised an eyebrow.  
"How so?"  
"How do ye know tha' I'm goin' ta kill ye?"  
"You aren't." I was very surprised on the inside, and he seemed just as surprised on the outside. "If you were going to kill me, you wouldn't have wasted your arrows on my helmet, or on my foot." I frowned.  
"Soo? What difference does it make?"  
"You also wouldn't have asked Heather to bring me out here."  
"That snitch!" He snorted. I walked over to him, lowering my bow, and I plopped down beside him, but now before I pulled the arrow out from the helmet, letting it fall into his head. "A've made my decision."  
"Hmm? Really?" he replied sarcastically, adjusting the helmet so that it rested on top of his head.  
"Yeah. Yer aboot as smart as ye are annoyin'. Let's see ye try'n figure out how much that is." I rested my head on his shoulder, and just before drifting into sleep, I flicked the helmet off of Hiccup's head.

* * *

Toothless feigned sleep. Fire-Hair did not grab the right part of his neck, but he played along out of politeness.  
He opened his eyes just a crack, to find Fire-Hair siting next to Friend, talking with him. Toothless tried not to smile.  
Fire-Hair was asleep now, and Friend was… rubbing her face?  
That must be a two-leg thing.  
Toothless gave up acting, and silently crept over to them. He made a soft purring noise, right next to Fire-Hair, and he lay down next to them. Friend smiled, and scratched Toothless absentmindedly.  
Toothless nudged Fire-Hair's skirt with his nose. He thought the way she looked was strange.  
Having her clothing torn, Fire-Hair had to use Viking clothing, and she now wore a too-large green shirt, some grey pants that were stitched to look like bandages, a fur skirt, and her tartan.  
Toothless nudged the tartan. He was not accustomed to such clothing, and found it strange.  
"I think the tartan looks good with the skirt," Friend mumbled as he looked from Toothless to Fire-Hair. Toothless's eyes widened slightly, and he made a noise that could only be described as curious.  
"What? It does!" Fire-Hair began to stir, and Friend put his finger to his lips. Toothless was tempted to roar just to annoy him, but he knew it would ruin Friend's special moment, so he stayed quiet.  
Friend drifted off eventually, and Toothless got a glimmer of mischief in his eyes. He was not called the unholy offspring of lighting and death itself for nothing.  
Using his tail to support her, Toothless gently moved Fire-Hair onto Friends lap, her head leaning on his chest, and he carefully repositioned Friend's arms so that they were wrapped around her.  
Grinning as mischievously as a Night Fury could, he lay back down a few feet away from the two, and he too drifted into blissful unconsciousness.

* * *

**Oh yeah, Toothless knew exactly what he was doing. **

**In case you didn't figure it out, the last thing was from 3rd Person so that it would flow better. Toothless knows their names, but he gave them new ones. Just because.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for short chapter and long wait, but I'm on break this week so woo!**

* * *

When I woke up I was warm. This was extremely strange because on Berk, there always seemed to be a cold breeze biting down your butt. Something was wrapped around me. I figured it was just a blanket or something- and I was half asleep- so I snuggled deeper into it. This subtle movement woke Hiccup up enough for him to have a single though.

_I am going to kill Toothless if I make it out of here alive._

Then, against his better judgement, he wrapped his arms tighter around me.

"Mmmmmm... Why're ye so warm..." I mumbled. I rolled over, with my face resting on his chest. Hiccup, quite honestly, was surprised that I wasn't disemboweling him. Toothless on the other hand was making a barking noise that sounded suspiciously like laughter. He padded over to us, and blew a puff of weak flames in my face. They were weak, so it only felt like warm air, but when he did it continuously, it began to sting. "Get away from me, ye pest..." I tried swatting at him, but he backed up quickly, making the barking noise.

Groaning, I sat up and realized just who I was sitting on. "Hiccup?"

"Mm?"

"WHA' THA HELL DO YE THINK YER DOING?!"

* * *

When Hiccup returned to the village he was limping heavily- which is very hard to do when you have a prosthetic leg- and muttering angrily under his breath about crazy red-heads and how sword hilts shouldn't be that heavy.

* * *

"In tha name of Thor, Hiccup, STOP! Yer mutilatin' her!" I heard Gobber shout as I passed by the forge. Naturally, I didnt want to pass up a chance to see Hiccup failing at something, so I went in. I walked through the door to find Hiccup holding a sword-in-progress. He quickly dunked it in the water, making Gobber cry out. "Noo! She was goin' ta be a good sword Hiccup!" I snuck up behind him and grabbed the sword, swinging it around.

"Ye've got tha balance all wrong, Hiccup, and tha craftsmanship is just sloppy. Give me an apron, Gobber, so Ah can show ye." I strapped on the apron, put my hair up in a ponytail, and grabbed the tongs from Hiccup before he could protest.

I heated the steel up enough so that it glowed bright orange, and began to draw it out. I got it to about 30 inches before stopping, and beginning to taper the blade. I hammered at an angle, beginning at the point where the taper should start and continuing to the end of the blade. It created a bit of a bulge, which anyone else would have drawn out, but I decided on making a style of sword that was somewhat... irregular.

I heated the blade up in sections, and began shaping it based on an old Celtic style. After maybe an hour of slow work, I had created a wicked blade that ended in a straight point, but everything from there to the hilt was expertly curved to resemble a flame. I dunked the glowing sword in the water and watched it return to a silver color before turning to my audience.

"What IS that?" Blunt as ever, Hiccup.

"It's a sword. I thought ye were a smithy, Hiccup, shoudnae ye know this?" I replied mockingly.

"Do ye mind if I try it oot?" Gobber reached for the sword, and I tossed it to him. "Wow. This would take an expert ta wield, would ye happen ta be one?" I nodded and took it back.

"It's a Celtic Flame sword, based on an old legend. I taught maself how to use it, because everyone believes only the bravest kings could wield them withoot dyin'." I snorted. "Tha first challanger nearly had his head taken off because he told me that I was a clueless bairn." They both stared at me, wide-eyed. "Anyway, Ah donae want to be witness to any more sword murders, so Ah'll be off."

As I turned to leave, Hiccup and Gobber glanced at each other. Gobber motioned towards me with his chin, smirking slightly. Hiccup shook his head and chased me out the door.

"Hey, uh, Merida, could I ask you something?"

Toothless's ears perked up, and he turned his head slightly to listen.

"Wha' do ye want Hiccup? I need ta go practice mah archery."

"Well, I was wondering if..." Toothless turned all the way around and began creeping towards us. He may have thought he was being stealthy, but a giant black dragon kind of stands out in the middle of a village. "I was wondering if you would... If you would like to..."

"SPIT IT OUT ALREADY, HICCUP!" He sprang up, as straight as a board, and began to spout almost indecipherable rapid-fire desperation.

"Theresanislandwherethedragonsgotolaytheireggsever ysnoggletogandigowiththemtomakesureeverythingissaf eandiwaswonderingifyouwouldmaybepossiblyliketogowi thme?" He stood there, not moving, his eyes wide with anticipation.

"Why do ye need me there?" My eyes narrowed suspiciously, while he slackened, and reached his hand up behind his head to scratch himself nervously.  
"Um, you... Urm... You make good company..." Toothless leaned up right behind Hiccup at this, and his eyes widened. I smiled.

"I'll go with ye if ye can tell me three things:  
1. Wha' is Snoggletog?  
2. Why do tha Vikings have such stupid names for things?  
And 3. Who is Astrid?" He tensed slightly.

"Snoggletog is the winter holiday of Berk. I have no idea why Vikings name things so stupidly. And Astrid is a girl I used to like, but she and her family moved to an island closer to the borders of Scotland... And the last time I saw her, to be perfectly honest, was when I was running from her in your palace." My eyes widened.  
"Oh... Forge' I ever asked... When do we leave?"

As soon as I said this, Toothless went into a frenzy. He back-flipped onto the roof of a building, and then continued to celebrate by jumping from roof to roof.  
Hiccup had tried to say something, but I cut him off when I busted out laughing.

"What? What did I say?!" Hiccup asked, offended.

"It isnae ye, but ye might want ta turn around," I replied shakily.

Right on cue, Toothless let out a celebratory roar of comical volume, and Hiccup snapped around.

"Really Toothless?! RIGHT now!" he yelled as he ran after the hyperactive dragon.

* * *

**(A/N) Let's see who else joins the Mericcup conspiracy. Read and Review!**


End file.
